Improved feictior clutch



S. C'. WRIHGT.

Lathe Clutch. l

Patented Aprill 16,' 1867.

@tetten tatee -iatwt ffice SYLVESTER C. l/RlGrlfi'l-`, F FlTCHBUltGh MASSACHUSETTS.

1.; Letters Patent No. 63,971, dated April 16, 1867.

IMPROVED FRCTION' CLUTCH.

1l() ALL PERSONS TO WHOMV THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME:

13e it known that I, SYLVESTER C. YRIGIT, of Fitchburg, in the county of lVorcestcr, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Friction Clutch operative mechanism for engine lathes or various other y machinery; and I do hereby declare the same to -bc fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1V denotes a longitudinal section of it.

Figure 2 is a transverse section taken through the clutch.

Figure f5 is a sidel view ofthe shaft 'carrying the smaller gear or pinion B, to be hereinafter described.

In such drawings, A and B denote two gears provided with the friction clutch and its operative mechanism, to be hereinafter described, the purpose ot' such clutch being to enable one gear te revolve independently ofthe other, or to put it in revolution, as circumstances may require. The pinion or gear B is fixed to the end of a tubular arbor or shaft, C, which has a hole or passage, a, made through it transversely andy close to thesaid gear B. The larger trear A revolves loosely ou the shaft C, and has a conical socliet or recess, b, made in that side of it which is next to the pinion 13, such socket being for reception of a conical clutch plate, D, arranged oif the shaft, and so applied toit as to be revolved with and by it and yetbc able to be slid or moved on such shaft a short distance lengthwise of it. 'llo this end a har, E, connected at its extremities to the clutch plate by screws, c c, and inserted within the clutch plate, goes diametrically through the aperture a of the shaft C, such aperture being of a width in the direction of the axis of the shaft suicient to enable the cross-bar E to slide or move in suchdirection the distance-required for effecting the desirable movements of the clutch plate D with respect to the gear A; in other words, to enable the clutch plate to be drawn closely into1 the socket b, or moved out of Contact with the gear A, in order to clutch the said gear A to the shaft C or unclutch it therefrom, as circumstances may require. The shaft C is supported in a bearing or nut, F, which screws into the poppet, or that f part ofthe lathe frame destined for its support, the shaft being held in place in the bearing by a collar, d, fixed l on the shaft, and by a nut, c, screwed upon a left-hand screw,f, cut on the shaft or arranged on it as represented. A hand-nut, Gr, having a rod, H,'extending from it into the bore ofthe shaft C is screwed upon the screwf, the rod being fixed to the hand-nut by means of a pin, g, whiclugoes transversely through the nut and the rod. Furthermore, on the inner end of the rod H a right-hand screw, h, is out, it being screwed into the cross-bar E ofthe clutch plate. By revolving the hand-nut in onedirection, that is, such that if continuedwould unscrew the`nut from the screw f, the clutch plate D will be drawn upto the wheel A. At the same time the screw t will be screwed into the bar E, and will thereby aid in drawing the clutch plate u-p to the gear A. A reverse motion of the nut G and the rod H will cause, by the joint action of the screws fand z, the clutch plate to'nidve away from the gear A. The plate D at its periphery is to bc drawn against that of the recess for its reception, so as by the friction cf the surfaces in contact theplate and wheel are to be connected in a manner to cause the wheel A while revolving to revolve the shaft C and its pinion 13. In a lathe the pinion B may be'supposed to be a part of the mechanism for effecting whatis termed the feed of the tool. A groove, r, is formed longitudinally in the shaft C, and leads into the aperture a. A small hole, Z, is made vertically through the bearing F. lVhen oil is poured into this hole, it will iiud its 'wayint the groove 7c, through which it will run into the aperture a, and from thence between the clutch plate D and the shaft C, and thus lubricate their surfaces incontact as well as those ofthe shaft @and bearing F. v

Figure 4 is a vertical section, exhibiting another arrangement or inode in whiclrl have contemplated the application of my invention. 4

In this last-mentioned figure the pinion audthc clutch plate are represented as attached to the shaft or rod H, and the male screw 7L is also exhibited as formed on the shaft H near its outer end, insteadof beingat its inner end. as shown in fig. 1'. The part or nut E carrying the female screw of thc screw l, instead of being ax ed to thecluteh plate, as shown in iig. 1, is secured directly to the nut Gr by screws c c, an end view of the said part E and the nut G being represented in Figure 5. The advantage of this last-described arrangement of the screw h and nut E is that it renders unnecessary thel mak-ing the shaft'C with the lateral opening a to receive the nut E, and, furthermore, it enables the parts to be detached with greater facility.

I am aware of the invention described in the United States Patent No. 39,326, dated July 21, A. D. 1863,

and granted to the Putnam Machine Companyf Thereforc I make no claim thereto. I employ no swivel nor union-jointed nut as used in such invention for effecting the movements ofthe clutch, but, and in combination with the nut Gr and its male screw f, applied to the parts C and I-I, auxiliary male and female screws, viz, the screw- L and its-female screw in the har 'or nut E, having` their threads pitched in a direction opposite-to those of the' said auxiliary screws, operating eonjointly withthe main screws in effecting a movement of the clutch plate D,

whether toward or away from'the gear A.

What, therefore, I claim as my invention for effecting the movements of the clutch plate D, is-

The combination of the auxiliary male screw L, and its bar or nut E, with the nut G, audits male screwf, having` their threads pitched in opposite directions to those of the screw h and vnut-E, the whole being applied .substantially as explained to the parts or shafts C and II, projecting from the gears AVB and the clutch D, as

C, and the clutch plate D appliedfto the shaft, by means snbstantially as specified.

Set forth.

I also claim the arrangement of the auxiliary nut E and its screw't at either end of the shaft H, as hereinbefore set forth,.when combined with plate D, tube c, and nut G.

I also claim the combination aswell as the arrangement-of the oil passages 7n Z with the bearing F, the shaft SYLVESTER C. WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

' JAMES L. CHAPMAN,

CALVIN WALLACE. 

